Originally published July 30 2005
Breast cancer sufferers' body changes can be helped with exercise
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Changes in the bodies of breast cancer sufferers can be helped with exercise.
Increasing or maintaining activity levels may help premenopausal patients avoid the weight gain common with chemotherapy for breast cancer, researchers from Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center and elsewhere reported Monday in the May issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
"Our study does not support over-eating as a cause for weight gain in premenopausal breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy," said lead author Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, associate research professor in the Department of Surgery.
"Even with concerns about immune system suppression, it's important that patients not cloister themselves throughout their treatment," added co-author Dr. Kelly Marcom, a Duke medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer.
The researchers measured and compared diet, activity, resting metabolism and body composition in premenopausal, early-stage breast cancer patients who received only localized treatment, surgery with or without radiation treatment, to those who also received chemotherapy to help minimize the risk of recurrence.
"In premenopausal breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, however, we saw an increase in adipose tissue, while lean tissue stayed the same or even decreased, so patients became 'fatter' even if their weight stayed the same.
Because this increase in body fat is accompanied by reduced activity, exercise represents a possible avenue of prevention, said the researchers.
"In a small pilot study we've seen that specific exercises in a clinic-based setting can stop this weight gain and muscle loss from happening," said Demark-Wahnefried.
The exercise study participants lost an average of 2.1 kilograms (4.6 pounds), increased their lean mass by 0.1 kg (0.22 pounds), and lost 1.9 kg (4.2 pounds) of fat tissue during the six-month program.
By comparison, the 36 chemotherapy patients in the current JCO study gained an average of 2.2 kg (4.8 pounds), lost 0.1 kg (0.22 pounds) of lean tissue, and gained 2.0 kg (4.4 pounds) of fat.
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